This thesis investigates the bamboo aesthetic in Chinese literature and its relations to the self-fashioning of moral high ground, with particular focus on literary works produced by Song literati. The study deconstructs the bamboo aesthetic into two parts, the literary bamboo and the literati self, and explores the internal dynamic relations between them. The entire thesis has 76 pages and in here you will read page 1-34. [……]
Category Archives: Academic Writing
Ai Weiwei's Art of the Everyday
However, seeing Ai from the top-notch perspective of the Duchampian concept and examining his exhibited works under the spot lights may overlook his another side: the witty “dirty little tricks” Ai has done to be a giant provocateur. Over the years, Ai has tried to drag contemporary Chinese art down to the everyday life, from inside the museum walls to the locations where social injustice was said to be committed, and thus turn art into a weapon to fight against the power. What is important about this practice is that, as will be detailed in this paper, he did it through his own unconventional way and his way is creative, organic and effective.[……]
The Agency of the Bronze Ding
This paper is an attempt to use post-processual methodology to study the bronze ding of the Chinese Bronze Age. Based on the theoretical framework of Alfred Gell and Mike Parker Pearson, the author uses the concept of agency in his inquiry about the relations between the ritual bronze ding and its owners. The purpose of the paper is to explore the effectiveness of this new methodology beyond the traditional paradigm of Chinese archaeology.[……]